Pat Jolly

In October, 2017, at age 71, Pat Jolly secured initial funding for the Pat Jolly Photo Archive Project. The grant allowed her to hire a collection administrator to lead the cataloging of more than 150,000 images that document a half century of southeast Louisiana culture. Her photos feature entertainers, artists, Mardi Gras, Black Masking Indians, festivals, celebrations — the energy and soul that fuel life in Louisiana. 

The process of tagging and cataloging the images is tedious and time-consuming, but as a publicly accessible, searchable archive, her image library will be a valuable resource for those seeking to learn about the culture of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. 

Jolly sees this project as a something of gift back to a community that has given her so much. She recalls what her grandmother told her: if everybody just holds up one corner of the community, it’ll stay up there. Pat Jolly is holding up her corner. And her dedication to sharing 50 years of photography is what makes her a Peoples Health Champion.